In Saint-Raphaël, the Beaumier collection hotel entrusted Atelier Saint-Lazare with 260 m² designed as a habitable sculpture, between curved concrete sail and vegetated terraces facing the open sea.
First, you have to accept the idea that you don't enter here as you would a hotel room. The Riviera Suite has its own entrance, its own address within the building, and this independence changes the very nature of the stay: 135 square meters of interior space extended by 125 square meters of panoramic terraces, perched on a rooftop overlooking the sea. With this addition, the Hotel Les Roches Rouges, which opened in 2017 on the Mediterranean coast, represents a significant step forward, a reinterpretation rather than an expansion.
Atelier Saint-Lazare, founded in 2000 by Antoine Ricardou and Clémentine Larroumet, conceived the entire space as a habitable sculpture. The concept could remain theoretical. It takes shape in a curved concrete veil, inspired by the sculptures of Richard Serra, which runs the length of the apartment. It connects the interior and exterior, becoming in turn a partition, a headboard, and a scenographic element. Its presence structures the volumes without ever completely closing them off, and it is from this tension that the fluidity of the space arises.
The boundary between the building and the landscape has been methodically erased. The bay windows retract, the terracotta floors extend seamlessly to the terraces, and the sculptural wall accompanies this transition from inside to outside. The terraces, landscaped by Atelier Lamarck, feature a pool and an outdoor shower. Everywhere, the eye is drawn back to the sea, from the first light of dawn until sunset.
This way of living close to the horizon has a history on this coast. The Riviera Suite is part of the modernist legacy of the 1930s and its grand houses with rooftop terraces that blended seamlessly with the water's edge. Eileen Gray's Villa E-1027 in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin remains the hotel's central reference point, for its timelessness and the perfect harmony it establishes with the Mediterranean landscape.
The furniture and artworks tell the story of the region, with the participation of largely local artisans and artists. Pieces by Pierre Chapo and Charlotte Perriand sit alongside a wall sconce by Guy Bareff, a plaster bas-relief, a lithograph by Alain Bonnefoit, and a desk by Pierre Paulin. The palette, predominantly white with terracotta tiles in shades of orange, reinforces the feeling of minerality, tactile softness, and the warmth of the South. The deliberately understated exterior creates a striking contrast with these objects and highlights the architectural lines that shape the whole.
The use of the suite remains deliberately hybrid. It can accommodate up to four people for a private stay—four adults or two adults and three children—in a 30-square-meter master suite with a dressing room and bathroom, and a 20-square-meter bedroom with a shower room. But the spaces can be opened up or closed off as needed, even accommodating dozens of guests for a cocktail party, dinner, meeting, or celebration, without the technical complexity of this transformation ever being apparent. A large apartment suspended above the Mediterranean, the suite intentionally blurs the lines between hotel and residential accommodation.
The approach is based on the principle of "less is more." The project prioritizes the reuse of existing materials and minimizes the production of unnecessary waste. Terracotta, stone, wood, and concrete are primarily sourced locally. The green roofs require minimal watering, the building's insulation has been improved, the windows and doors have been replaced with high-energy-efficiency components, and the bathroom fixtures were chosen for their low water consumption. Acoustics, ventilation, and energy efficiency are integrated into the hotel's overall structure.
Following the acquisition of the neighboring building in 2023 and two years of restructuring led by Atelier Saint-Lazare, the Riviera Suite concludes a cycle that began in 2015. It offers a precise definition of what hospitality can be today: architecture at the service of the experience, materials and proportions that are sufficient to create the setting, a place designed for those seeking the essentials by the sea. The images are by Matthieu Salvaing, assisted by Théo Guerlet, with set design by Juliette Orts.
